Popular tobacco products, such as cigarettes, smokeless tobacco products, and/or the like typically include a tobacco or tobacco-related material such as shredded tobacco (e.g., in cut filler form). Some tobacco products further include a capsule object within the tobacco and/or tobacco-related product. For example, smokeless tobacco products may include a pouch portion that includes a tobacco and/or tobacco-related material and a capsule therein. In another example, a cigarette may include a tobacco rod and a filter rod having a capsule included within the filter rod.
During the production of these tobacco products, inspection of the capsule and/or the tobacco product may occur. One example of a system for analyzing a tobacco product is set forth in U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2014/0131579 to Ademe et al., which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. For example, inspection of the capsules to be included in the tobacco products may occur before, during, and/or after the production of the tobacco product. Inspection of the capsules during and/or after the production of the tobacco product that includes the capsule may provide additional difficulties. For example, a system configured to inspect capsules after the tobacco product has been produced could allow for the introduction of a defective capsule in the final tobacco product, thereby wasting materials by producing a defective tobacco product. In this regard, the manufactured tobacco product that includes the defective capsule cannot be sold for consumption because the perception of the quality of the product may be damaged.
As such, it may be desirable to inspect capsules to determine which capsules are defective before incorporating any capsules into a tobacco product. In particular, it may be desirable to determine if a capsule, which includes an outer shell and an inner payload, has dimensions, attributes, and/or properties that are substantially equal to or within predetermined acceptable interval limits. Further, it may be desirable to perform the inspection of capsules largely, or entirely, by high-speed automated machinery. As such, there exists a need for a system and method for inspecting capsules for defects prior to the capsules being included within a tobacco product for distribution and sale. It may also be desirable for such a solution to be readily implemented with respect to existing tobacco product production machinery.